Survival bag

ABSTRACT

Protective clothing in the form of a survival bag is fabricated from a plastics film having a metallic coating applied to the surface.

United States Patent Sams [ SURVIVAL BAG [72] Inventor: Ronald G. Sams, Conduit Lane,

l-loddesdon, England [22] Filed: Jan. 26, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 5,961

[52] US. Cl. ..229/53, 2/2, 150/1, 150/52 R, 229/3.5 MF 51 1 Int. Cl. ..B65d 33/00 [58] Field 01 Search ..2/1, 2; 229/35 R, 3.5 F, 53, 229/55, 63; 150/1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.6; 117/107 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,132,344 5/1964 Langdon ..2/1 3,044,438 7/1962 Osswald ..117/107 [4511 Oct. 3, 1972 3,506,185 4/ 1970 Christensen ..229/55 2,584,633 2/l952 Southwick ..229/55 X 2,656,769 10/1953 Hultkrans ..229/63 X 2,918,394 12/1959 Smith ..117/107 2,863,179 12/1958 Gaugler ..1l7/l07 X 2,625,695 1/1953 Nicholson ..229/63 X 2,447,561 8/1948 Brenner ..150/1 X 2,683,262 7/1954 Foss ..150/52 X Primary Examiner-Donald F. Norton Attorney-Emory L. Groff and Emory L. Groff, Jr.

[ ABSTRACT Protective clothing in the form of a survival bag is fabricated from a plastics film having a metallic coating applied to the surface.

1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures SURVIVAL BAG SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to protective clothing or covering, and more particularly to a survival bag in which a human being may survive in an extremely adverse environment.

Ships and aircraft are always equipped with life boats, life rafts, inflatable rafts and other means by which, in case of a disaster in which the ship or aircraft is wrecked, any survivors may keep afloat if the accident takes place while at sea. The life boats or life rafts are also commonly provided with food, water and, quite frequently, with radio, so that it is possible to sent out distress signals for help. However, the disaster may take place in an area having a very adverse climate and the survivors may in consequence be subjected to extreme cold, or possibly extreme heat, and the object of the invention is to provide a simple apparatus which is extremely light and compact, by which a survivor may be protected from the extremes of cold or heat.

The invention provides a survival bag having an opening therein and fabricated from a material comprising a thin synthetic plastics film having a thin coating of aluminum metal applied to one or both of its surface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of the survival bag of the present invention with portions of the metallic film coating removed for purposes of clarity.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. I.

PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawing, the bag is conveniently made from a single sheet 1 of material which is folded in half to form a bottom fold A and is secured along two of its lateral edges to leave an opening along the remaining top edge. The seaming of these edges is conveniently carried out by placing an adhesive synthetic plastics tape over or around the abovedescribed edges of the sheet 1.

The top edges of the sheet forming the opening of the bag may be turned down (not shown) and seamed to provide a channel which may carry a draw cord or tape to enable the opening to be closed or partially closed.

It has been found that the sheet 1 may comprise a thin film of a synthetic plastics material such as polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene or polyvinyl chloride, and if covered on one or both of its faces by an extremely thin film F of aluminum applied for example by vacuum deposition to ensure complete adhesion between the films, is most effective in reflecting heat in both directions and if such a sheet is made into a bag it will afford a quite unexpected degree of protection against excessive heat or excessive cold.

Accordingly, the present invention resides in the formation of the above specified components into a bag. In making this bag, a rectangular sheet 1 of appropriate size is folded in half to provide the fold A and two of the three resultant free edges of the folded sheet are fastened together, preferably by the use of lengths B and C of a suitable synthetic plastics adhesive tape. The remaining edges forming the open part of the ag are folded back a short distance and seamed, preferably by securing the forked-over edges by means of lengths D and E of a synthetic plastics adhesive tape, and a draw cord (not shown) which is preferably made of a woven synthetic plastics material such as nylon may be threaded through the tunnel which would be formed, the ends of the cord projecting through appropriate openings in the tunnel.

To obtain the protection afforded by the bag, it is only necessary to step into the bag and draw the tape, if the bag is so provided, so that the bag closes around the occupants neck. In this way, the body heat of the occupant is conserved in that it is reflected back from the inner surface of the bag. If the atmospheric temperature should be very high then this outside heat is reflected back and not allowed to pass into the bag. The occupant may release the closed top opening from time to time in order to allow heated air to escape and cooler air to pass into the bag.

The bag alternatively may be formed from two identical sheets of the material, the bottom and opposed side edges secured together conveniently, as above described Iclaim:

I. A survival bag comprising an envelope which is open at one end and fabricated from a single sheet of thin synthetic plastics material film having a thin coating of aluminum applied by vacuum deposition to at least one of its surfaces, said single sheet being folded in half and secured along two of its remaining edges by means of adhesive synthetic plastics material tape. 

1. A survival bag comprising an envelope which is open at one end and fabricated from a single sheet of thin synthetic plastics material film having a thin coating of aluminum applied by vacuum deposition to at least one of its surfaces, said single sheet being folded in half and secured along two of its remaining edges by means of adhesive synthetic plastics material tape. 